


Still Sane

by buoyantsaturn



Series: Prompts [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Based on a Tumblr Post, Headcanon prompt, M/M, Oblivious Nico di Angelo, emotional monologuing, hes still in it a lot but a lot less than the previous requests ive done, nico left for a year to "find himself' but he's back now, rated for swearing and the occasional blood mention, will is in this surprisingly little considering what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 22:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14318073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: “Nico di Angelo.” Will’s hand slipped on the thread between his fingers and he nearly stabbed the needle he held into Sherman’s calf. “I saw him this morning, and he lookssodifferent, but like, in a good way. Areallygood way. He almost looks like a different person--”EDIT:this fic is based on this headcanon list





	Still Sane

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_forgotten_traveller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_forgotten_traveller/gifts).



> hi i was gonna post this on my birthday as like my birthday present to you but then i got home from class and my mom and sister were waiting for me in the lobby of my apartment building?? and i started crying??? and they said that my dad wasn't there yet but he would meet us for dinner?? and yeah i cried a lot and i had a really good time and they just left which is why im finally posting this now three days later  
> anyway planned to title this still sane by lorde solely bc the first line is 'today is my birthday and im riding high' but its no longer my birthday but what else am i gonna name this  
> also a late birthday gift to my boy eli!! thanks for helping make my 19th birthday the best birthday ever!!

Will was halfway through stitching up a nasty gash on Sherman’s leg when he overheard part of a conversation from a few beds over.

“Did you hear who finally came back?” a daughter of Demeter said to a daughter of Hermes.

“No, who?” the other replied.

“Nico di Angelo.” Will’s hand slipped on the thread between his fingers and he nearly stabbed the needle he held into Sherman’s calf. “I saw him this morning, and he looks _so_ different, but like, in a good way. A _really_ good way. He almost looks like a different person--”

“Hey, Austin,” Will called out, and waited until his brother was standing beside him before he spoke again. “Can you take over for me here?”

“What? Why? I’m in the middle of taking stock,” Austin responded.

“I, uh,” Will stuttered, struggling to find an excuse. “I gotta take a leak.”

Austin rolled his eyes, but stepped closer to take the sutures out of Will’s hands. “Alright, fine, but hurry back.”

“Thanks, man!” Will exclaimed, bouncing out of his seat and running toward the exterior door.

“The bathroom’s the other way,” Austin called after him, but Will was already gone.

Will hurried toward the cabins, walking as fast as he could without full-out running and alerting anyone to his presence. His eyes locked on the Hades cabin where he figured Nico would be - hiding from the other campers and pretending he was resting, just like he’d done before he left - but before Will had even made it past the Ares cabin, he heard someone say, “He and Jason started sparring so everybody had to leave the arena, you know, ‘cause of that rule Chiron made that nobody can be in the arena when two Big Three kids are fighting, since it’s so dangerous, or whatever.”

Will hesitated on his next step, the toe of his shoe catching on a divot in the ground, and he narrowly avoided falling flat on his face. He turned away from the cabins, heading toward the arena instead, wondering to himself, _how did everyone find out that Nico was back before I did?_

He cracked the door of the arena open when he got there, peeking in to see if Nico was truly inside, and he was met with a strong gust of wind that slammed the door shut on his face. Instead, he pressed his ear to the door and listened to the sound of clanging metal, which was shortly replaced by bubbling laughter, so Will pushed the door open once more.

Will felt like he was hit in the stomach by another strong gust, the air flying out of his lungs when his eyes landed on Nico. No longer was he some pale, scrawny little kid, but his skin was tan and the muscles in his arms and legs were well-defined. When Nico pulled Jason back onto his feet, Will noticed that Nico had grown, too, at least half a foot since the last time Will had seen him.

Once Will was certain that the two of them weren’t about to start another fight, he stepped further into the arena and waited for one of them to notice him. It didn’t take long before Jason was smiling at him and raising a hand in greeting, calling over, “Hey, Will, what’s up?”

Nico’s head spun toward him, and Will noticed for the first time that Nico’s hair was much shorter than he’d ever seen it - he could actually see the back of Nico’s neck for once, but his bangs were still long enough to brush against his eyebrows. Nico smiled at Will when he saw him, and Will felt his heart stutter.

“Hi,” Will said, and made his way toward them. “Uh, I heard that Nico was back, and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t severely injured yet still avoiding treatment, like usual.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I’m actually fine for once, but thanks for the concern.”

“I wouldn’t have let him show off if he was hurt,” Jason told Will. “You should’ve seen him, Will, that year away really did him some good.”

“Would you stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Nico grumbled, crossing his arms.

Will shrugged as he said, “Don’t disappear for another year and maybe we will.” He winced internally after the words had left his mouth, realizing too late how his words might have come across.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Nico said, and smiled softly at Will.

Will felt like he’d been shocked, and he was sure he had the stupidest grin on his face. “Uh, if you want, you’re welcome to sit at the Apollo table for dinner tonight. Maybe you can tell me what you’ve been up to for the last year?” he said awkwardly, and remembered a second later that Jason was still standing next to them. “Oh! And, uh, Jason, you can sit with us too, if you don’t want to be alone at the Zeus table.”

Jason dropped his hand onto Will’s shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Thanks, Will, but I’m heading out soon. Pontifex business, and whatever.”

“Oh, alright. Well, don’t forget to stop by the infirmary for an emergency kit before you go,” Will told him. “Actually, while I’m thinking about it, I’m gonna go make sure there’s one ready for you right now.” He started taking a few steps backwards, but paused when he said to Nico, “I’ll see you at dinner, yeah?”

Nico nodded, and Will smiled before he turned around and left.

Jason draped an arm over Nico’s shoulders - he’d grown to the perfect height for Jason to do so, much to Nico’s displeasure - and said, “So, Will, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nico muttered, shoving Jason away and crouching down to pick up his sword.

“Uh huh, sure you don’t,” Jason teased. “You can’t fool me, I could see the way you were looking at him.”

Nico sheathed his sword with more force than necessary, glaring down at the ground. “Leave it alone, Jason.”

“Alright, I get it,” Jason said. “You’re embarrassed about your crush, I’ll stop talking about it.”

“Really? Are you sure, because it certainly doesn’t sound like you’re done.”

“I promise, I’ll drop it,” Jason told him. “This is me, dropping it. Come on, let’s go talk to Chiron about you taking over my sword fighting classes until I get back.”

 

* * *

 

After their meeting with Chiron, Nico and Jason had parted ways - Jason heading to the Zeus cabin to finish packing and Nico to the Hades cabin to finish _un_ packing (not that he had much to put away in the first place). Nico had accumulated a few things over the past year, nothing more than what he could fit in a single backpack, but he’d gained a few more changes of clothes and one of the pockets of his backpack was filled with pictures from the few times he’d visited New Rome.

He’d taken as much time as possible putting his things away, and happened to finish just a few minutes before the start of dinner. He made his way to the pavilion, lining up behind the Hermes cabin and trying to ignore the stares he could feel coming from all around him. He grabbed some food, gave up some for his father and Persephone and Hestia, and turned toward the tables - he distinctly noticed a few heads spinning back toward plates as he walked by, wishing he could grow smaller with every step.

Nico spotted Will sitting near the middle of the Apollo table and made his way over, setting down his plate down next to Will’s. As he sat, he heard a few campers directly behind him whispering, “Oh my gods, _that’s_ Nico? Nico di Angelo? But he looks so different!” Nico huffed, picking up his fork and poking uninterestedly at the pile of mashed potatoes.

Will leaned into his shoulder slightly. “Hey, are you alright?”

Nico shrugged. “I dunno, I thought that maybe after being gone so long, people might...forget about me? Or stop being afraid of me. And I was hoping I would stop hearing people whisper about me all the time, but I guess that’s not gonna happen.”

Will frowned. “What do you mean, whispering about you? If you want, I can talk to Chiron--”

“No, don’t do that. It’s not that big of a deal,” Nico told him. “I don’t wanna make it a bigger problem than it already is.”

Will hesitated, unsure of if he wanted to ask his next question. “What are they saying?”

_“He looks different,”_ Nico replied. _“I didn’t think he would ever come back. Are you sure that’s Nico? It doesn’t look like him.”_

“I’m sure you’re just hearing things out of context,” Will assured him, but Nico just shoved a big scoop of potatoes into his mouth, ending the conversation.

The usual chatter of the Apollo table continued on around them, Will and Nico jumping into the conversation whenever they could, and near the end of dinner, Piper squeezed onto the bench across from Nico.

“Hey, Neeks, long time no see,” she said. “How’ve you been? You ready for Capture the Flag tomorrow? All of my siblings are hoping to get you on our side this time.”

“Woah, hey,” Kayla jumped in, leaning forward to look around Will, pointing her spoon at Nico. “You’re always on our team, you can’t switch now that we just got you back!”

“What’s it matter who’s team I’m on?” Nico asked with a frown. “Shadow traveling is against the rules now, so it’s not like I’m any better than anybody else.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “It’s not all about your powers. Think about it, you’ve got until dinner tomorrow to decide, so _really_ think about it, alright? And remember, my siblings are willing to do almost anything to get you on our team - they’re even willing to trade chores with you.”

Nico sighed. “Fine, I’ll think about it,” he replied, mostly to get her to drop the subject.

“Great!” Piper said, and got up from the table, returning to her own.

Almost every head at the Apollo table turned toward him as soon as Piper was gone, clearly expecting an explanation. “I’m not switching teams just to get out of doing the dishes a few times, have a little faith in me, guys.”

 

Before the start of the game, Team Apollo - with help from the Hermes, Ares, and Hephaestus cabins, plus a few assorted children of some minor gods - gathered around Zeus’s Fist to appoint positions. Jake Mason and a few of his siblings would guard the area West of the flag, and a handful of Hermes kids would take the East. The Ares cabin would lead the offensive charge across the creek with about half of the Apollo cabin, and the other half alongside most of the minor gods’ children would guard the flag.

“Nico, we’re putting you on the creek to take down anybody that tries to get across,” Austin said, and turned to address the crowd. “Who wants to partner up with Nico?”

A few girls throughout the group shot their hands into the air, calling out, “Ooh, I do! Pick me!”

Will could sense the discomfort practically radiating off of Nico as he stepped away from the attention, looking as though he was trying to shrink down until nobody could see him. Will stepped forward, partially blocking Nico from view, and said, “I’ll go with Nico.”

Austin rolled his eyes at his brother before nodding. “Great. Everyone else, you know what to do. For Apollo!”

The crowd called back, “For Apollo!” though the Ares cabin added on, “and Ares!” because they were still bitter about their recent loss.

“Take your positions!” Kayla ordered, and the group dispersed into the woods.

Nico and Will hurried toward the creek before the game-starting conch sounded. They heard a battle cry to the East, the Ares cabin never ones for subtlety during these games as they started their attack on Team Aphrodite.

From then, there wasn’t much to be seen or heard besides the occasional shout in the distance, so Nico and Will allowed themselves to relax a bit while they waited.

“So, uh, what’ve you been up to?” Will asked, and Nico raised an eyebrow at him. “I mean, uh, where’ve you been? You know, for the last year. What were you doing?”

“Well,” Nico started, scuffing the toe of his shoe into the dirt. “Long story short, I was mostly running errands for my dad. I was trying to keep myself occupied to try to...I guess, trick my brain so I would stop having nightmares and flashbacks, and all that. I stopped by New Rome a few times, usually for errands, once for Hazel’s birthday.” He smiled softly to himself before continuing, “Reyna practically wrestled me into a barber’s chair the last time I was there. She said my hair was getting too long, so it all got cut off. Except for this, for some reason.” He looked up at his bangs, tugging at them with his fingers for a second.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with hair so short,” Will commented. “It’s, uh, it looks really good.”

Nico smiled at him. “You think so?”

“Yeah, I do,” Will told him, taking a step closer to Nico. “You looked good with longer hair, too, but this is like, a good kind of different. A really good kind.”

Nico opened his mouth, about to say something else, but right at that moment a handful of Athena kids came charging at them from the opposite side of the creek.

 

* * *

 

Nico wasn’t entirely sure how to teach a sword fighting class - he’d never been a part of one before, considering he was taught by ghosts and reanimated skeletons - and the brief talk Jason had had with him before he left hadn’t given Nico very much confidence in teaching.

His first class that day was a beginner’s level, meaning everyone there was between eight and ten, so Nico figured that they wouldn’t know much, especially since it was close to the start of the summer still. He brought out the wooden practice swords for the kids to use, and laid them out before the young campers started to arrive.

Once there were about ten kids waiting on the bleachers, a girl that Nico didn’t recognize - not that he remembered a good portion of the people that came to camp now - who was definitely too old to be in the class, asked him, “Do you mind if I sit in the stands and watch? My little sister is in the class and I just want to know what she’s learning.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” Nico answered. “Just, uh, stay on the bleachers while I’m teaching, I guess. Do you normally watch the class?”

“Oh, no,” she replied. “I’ve just gotten a sudden interest in sword fighting and thought I’d watch a beginner’s class to see if I wanna try it myself.”

“Okay, well, uh, I’m gonna get the class started,” Nico said, and turned away from her, feeling confused by the interaction. Why would someone want to watch a beginner’s class, instead of a more advanced class? That class would be far more interesting to watch, especially since Nico figured he would be sharing mostly fighting terms with the younger students that day.

He gave each kid a wooden practice sword and had them spread out on the arena floor, having them copy his movements as he called out the action he was doing. He shouted, “Advance!” and stepped forward, sword held ready to attack in front of him, and the students did the same. He shouted, “Pivot!” and spun on one foot until he’d turned halfway around and was facing the bleachers - for some reason, his one observer had suddenly grown into a group of about six campers, all about his age, all of whom were keeping a close eye on him and not on the kids. “Pivot to front!” Nico called out, trying not to be distracted by his growing audience, and spun back to face the rest of the class.

He was happy to see the end of class roll around, though he grew increasingly uneasy as he noticed that his audience had grown even larger throughout the duration of the class. He didn’t want to approach them once he’d dismissed his students, but he felt the need to confront them, at least to kick them out.

“Are you here for a class?” Nico asked the group as a whole.

“Nope,” one of them answered. “We just came to watch.”

Nico tensed, and was finally able to name the uncomfortable feeling he’d been having for the last hour: they were there to make fun of him. He was certain of it, why else would anyone sit on the sidelines and _watch_ a sword fighting class?

“Okay, well, class is over,” he told them, crossing his arms and glaring in the direction of the door. “Time for everyone to leave.”

The group began to rise from the bleachers, preparing to leave, and someone said, “See you for the next class!”

Nico turned and walked out the back door of the arena, desperate to get away from the other campers. His ears started ringing and the tips of his fingers started to tingle, feeling as they had when they’d started disappearing after the battle against the Giants. His chest tightened around his pounding heart, and he struggled to take in his next breath. He leaned against the exterior wall of the arena, trying to regain control of his own body before he slipped away into a full panic attack.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and something wet pressed against his stomach, startling Nico back into his own head. His eyes opened, and before him was a giant mass of black fur that was sniffing at him excitedly.

“Mrs. O’Leary,” Nico said, and felt himself calming down until he could no longer feel his limbs vibrating. “Hey, girl, it’s been a while.”

The hellhound barked happily, causing Nico’s ears to start ringing for a whole different reason, and she jumped back, chin resting on her front paws while her tail wagged high in the air - she expected him to play with her.

“You don’t get much attention around here anymore, do you?” Nico asked her, and she whined softly, waiting for Nico to make a move. “Well, I don’t know where your toys are. Go get one.”

Mrs. O’Leary barked at him again before she spun around and ran to the nearest tree, ripping down a low-hanging branch and bringing it back to Nico. He grabbed the end of the branch with both hands and tugged, but Mrs. O’Leary didn’t loosen her hold.

“C’mon, drop it,” Nico said with a laugh, and so she did. The branch wasn’t so big that Nico couldn’t lift it, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to throw it very far, so he spun once like he was throwing a discus and sent the branch flying. Thankfully, Mrs. O’Leary didn’t immediately snatch it out of the air, and had to chase after it a bit before she could bring the branch back to him again.

She dropped the branch at his feet and suddenly licked at his face, her slobber soaking the front of his shirt and slicking back his hair as she knocked him onto his back. Nico tried to shove her away but she dropped a paw onto his chest and held him down while she licked him a few more times.

“Oh, gods, stop it!” Nico cried out, but he couldn’t stop laughing. “No, this is so gross!”

Mrs. O’Leary finally moved back, though one of her claws caught on his shirt and ripped through the fabric as well as cutting into his skin. It didn’t hurt much, but it was certainly deep enough that Nico felt like he should pop over to the infirmary to get it looked at.

The hellhound barked at him again, but Nico held up a hand to let her know that playtime was over. She whined again but picked up her branch and moved back into the shade of the arena, chewing away at the branch to occupy her time.

Thankfully, the arena wasn’t incredibly far from the infirmary, so Nico made it inside before the dog slobber had dried his shirt against his skin.

Will raised an eyebrow at him as soon as he saw Nico. “Hey, uh, what’s up?”

“Not much,” Nico replied, plopping down on an empty cot and pulling his shirt off over his head.

“Um, what are you doing?” Will asked, startled and confused by Nico’s unusual actions.

“I’ve got an injury,” Nico told him, twisting his torso until Will could see the bright red cut on his abdomen. “You fix those here, don’t you?”

Will rolled his eyes and pushed his feet against the floor, propelling his rolling chair across the room to Nico’s cot. “Alright, what happened?”

“I was playing with Mrs. O’Leary and she tackled me,” Nico told him, laying down on the bed. “I guess one of her claws got me. That’s also why I’m drenched in dog slobber, by the way.”

Will grabbed a cloth and wiped away the excess blood from Nico’s wound. “Oh, so that’s why your hair looks like that?”

“Like what?” Nico asked, and reached up to touch his hair, but recoiled immediately when he felt the sticky wetness of it. “Oh no, that’s disgusting.”

Will grabbed a clean cloth and poured some Nectar onto it before pressing that into the wound, allowing it to heal slightly before he gathered the supplies to stitch it up. “Well, yeah, you’ve got a head full of dog spit. It’s a good look, though. Maybe you should have Mrs. O’Leary style your hair more often.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, you’re so funny. Quit making fun of me, I’ve had enough of that today.”

Will frowned, pausing before starting the first stitch. “What do you mean? Are people making fun of you?”

Nico hesitated. “I don’t know. I think so, but it’s not like they’re saying anything to my face.”

“What happened?”

Nico turned his head until he was staring at the empty cot beside him instead of at Will. “I was teaching a beginner’s class this morning, and a bunch of older campers - not like, older, but our age - came in to watch. I tried to pretend they weren’t there, but I kept hearing whispering, and more and more people kept showing up until class ended and I kicked everyone out of the arena. They said they’re gonna come back for the next class, too. I think...I’m gonna talk to Chiron after we’re done here and tell him what happened. Maybe he’ll get them to leave me alone.”

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think,” Will assured him, “but it’s all about what makes you comfortable. I bet they were just talking about how much they like your new haircut, but I can go with you to talk to Chiron, if you want.”

Nico glanced back at him with an eyebrow raised. “Do you _actually_ like the way my hair looks right now?”

_“Yes,_ I already told you that,” Will said with a laugh. “But, whatever, don’t believe me. I’m almost done with the stitches, I’ve just gotta bandage you up, and then you can go wash the slobber out of your hair or whatever you’ve gotta do.”

Nico groaned and draped an arm over his eyes. “I’ve got another class to teach after lunch.”

“Hopefully it’ll be better,” Will said. “Sit up, and I’ll go get the bandages. And a spare shirt for you.”

 

Nico left the infirmary with bandages wrapped around his abdomen and he was wearing one of Will’s spare scrub shirts over them. He completely forgot about his plan to talk to Chiron, instead making his way toward the cabins and knocking on the Aphrodite cabin door. Thankfully, Piper was the one to answer, and Nico didn’t even give her a chance to offer a greeting before he said, “Do you have anything I can put in my hair to make it stick up like this all the time?”

Piper beamed and pulled Nico into the cabin.

 

* * *

 

A few weeks later, Nico brought a few different weapons from the weapons shed into the arena for his students to see the different options and try them out during class. He laid everything out before the kids started to arrive, followed by the usual crowd of teenagers that Nico had yet to have kicked out. They hadn’t been a huge distraction in the past few classes, but Nico always forgot to talk to Chiron about them afterwards, anyway.

He made sure that none of the kids touched the weapons unless he was keeping a close eye on them, but his audience had decided that today would be the day where they would be as big of a disruption as possible.

Nico managed to explain to his class the names and best uses of each of the types of swords and knives he’d laid out, and was about to let them take turns holding them, when one of the girls in the audience raised her hand and called out, “Hey, Nico, I have a question!”

Nico frowned as he turned to face the bleachers, and said, “Um, okay.”

“Which of those weapons is your favorite?” she asked.

“Well, uh, I guess the longsword,” he replied, “but I have my own sword, so I prefer that one.”

“Is your sword bigger?” another girl asked, and a handful of the people in the crowd laughed, causing Nico’s frown to deepen.

“No, it’s the same as the one I have here,” he said, gesturing to the longsword laid out among the rest of the weapons. “If you don’t mind, I’m trying to teach a class here.”

“Can we come down there to get a closer look at the weapons?” one of the few boys in the crowd asked.

“Sure, fine, just don’t get in the way,” Nico said, and turned back to his class while his audience moved further down the bleachers until he could practically feel them breathing down his neck.

Nico continued on with his class, making sure each of the kids knew that the weapons in front of them were real and not toys, meaning that they could really hurt someone if they tried anything stupid, and when he felt sure that each of the kids understood, he allowed them to step forward and pick a weapon. “No fighting over them, either,” he said last. “You’ll each get a turn with every weapon you want to try, and fighting over them is just going to get people hurt.”

As Nico sat and watched the kids pick up some of the weapons and spread out to swing some of them around, he felt someone move closer to him.

“You sure know a lot about all these weapons,” one of the audience members commented, a girl that Nico was pretty sure was from the Aphrodite cabin. “You’re pretty smart for being so young. How old are you, anyway?”

Nico didn’t look at her while he spoke, keeping an eye out for each of the kids. “Uh. I’m sixteen. Almost. I think.”

“You think? That’s a pretty weird answer, shouldn’t you know how old you are?”

Nico ignored her, instead calling out to the class, “If you haven’t tried a different weapon yet, it’s time to switch.”

The girl next to him tried to say something else, but Nico noticed one of his students struggling with the sword in her hand, so he got up and went over to help. He helped the girl - a daughter of Hebe, if he remembered correctly - adjust her grip on the sword, and walked her through a parry and thrust until she felt more comfortable with the weapon in her hand.

He stepped away, walking around the room to examine the way the rest of his students were handling their weapons, stopping to help kids here and there until he announced that they should trade weapons again.

Nico was in the middle of helping a boy with a particularly heavy sword, when one of his audience members called out, “Hey, Nico!”

His head shot up, allowing himself to be distracted by what was no doubt going to be a stupid question of some kind, but before the question came, he heard a shout like a battle cry coming from behind him. He spun around to see a boy wielding a dagger running toward him.

Realistically, Nico should have been able to stop the boy, no problem. He could have side-stepped or dodged the attack in some way, but his tortured mind had chosen that moment to paralyze him, to have him see one of the giant, humanoid-creatures he’d faced on one of his father’s errands charging toward him. At the last second, all Nico could do was raise an arm to prevent the knife from stabbing him somewhere important.

When he finally realized what had happened, his arm had already bled until there was a noticeable puddle of blood on the ground, and the room around him was silent. He looked down at the boy that had injured him, staring up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes as he dropped his dagger into the puddle of blood.

“I’m sorry!” the boy wailed between sobs. “I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry!”

It took Nico another moment before he could get his voice to work, and he reached down to pat the boy on his shoulder. “It’s okay. I mean, that really _wasn’t_ okay, but I’m fine, it’s just a little cut. Now you know why you can’t mess around with weapons, got it?”

“Oh my gods, Nico!” a group of teenage girls cried from across the arena before running over to him.

“You’ve gotta get to the infirmary immediately!” one of them told him, grabbing his uninjured arm and pulling him toward the door.

“What? No, I’m fine, I’ve got a class to teach,” Nico said, ripping his arm away. “I’ll go later.”

“No way!” another girl insisted. “Somebody else can watch all the kids. You need to get that looked at immediately!”

“I said I’m fine, I’ve had way worse--”

“Kyle, can you watch the class while we take Nico to the infirmary?” another girl called across the room, and one of the boys in the audience offered back a thumbs-up, so the group of girls surrounding Nico pushed and pulled him toward the door.

He was practically dragged into the infirmary, finally yanking his arms out of the girls’ deathgrips and marching straight up to Will. “Please make them leave,” he pleaded, and Will looked from the group of girls down to Nico’s bleeding arm.

“Did one of them do this?” Will asked, something like angry protectiveness seeping into his tone.

“No.” Nico frowned. “Sort of. I don’t know, just make them leave?”

“Yeah, yeah of course,” Will said. “Go sit down, I’ll be right back.”

As Nico made his way toward an empty cot, Will went over to the group of girls, letting them know that they needed to wait outside if they were so insistent on being nearby. Will came back after he was sure that the girls had left, and sat down next to Nico, lifting his arm to examine it.

“Tell me what happened,” Will said, gathering a few supplies to clean and stitch up the cut.

“I don’t _know_ what’s happening,” Nico shouted frustratedly up at the ceiling. “All these people won’t leave me _alone,_ it’s like they’re watching my every move, just waiting for me to mess something up! For some reason, today, all those people that keep watching my beginner’s class started asking me a bunch of stupid questions and distracted me, and-- I had another _godsdamn_ flashback or some shit and one of the kids stabbed me because I wasn’t able to pay attention to my own class for more than twenty seconds!”

“Nico,” Will said, cupping Nico’s cheek with one hand and forcing him to look him in the eyes. He knew that Will had some sort of ability to drain the tension out of people and get them to calm down, but Nico didn’t think he was using any powers on him to help him relax. That was just how Will made him feel. “It’s alright. I know how much this has been stressing you out, and on top of the flashbacks and nightmares, stress makes you forget things. Like telling an adult that there's an ongoing problem. If you’ll let me, I wanna tell Chiron that this is happening so that they’ll leave you alone. And if he doesn’t do anything, I’ll come to your next class and scare them off myself, okay?”

Nico sighed, and nodded. “Thank you, Will.”

“Anything for you,” he replied, and moved back to start cleaning Nico’s arm. “You know, I think they were just trying to get close to you to get to know you.”

“Why would anyone want to get to know me?” Nico asked, scrunching up his nose.

“Because they think you’re cute.”

Nico stared up at Will in complete and utter shock. “Why in _Hades_ would they think I’m _cute?”_

“Because you’re cute, you _idiot,”_ Will said, waiting to start stitching until Nico finally _got it._ “Wait, no, cute might not be the right word. You’re _hot,_ Nico. You’re gorgeous. You’re-- Remember when you first came back and you said everyone was whispering about you? People whisper about hot people, because they would be embarrassed if the hot person heard them talking about their muscles or their new haircut or their nice ass. They’re not watching you to make fun of you, they’re watching you because they like _looking at you,_ because you’re _really nice_ to look at.” Nico’s face had grown bright red during Will’s monologue, and they were both very happy that the infirmary was empty so that nobody would be able to hear the conversation they were having.

Will dropped his gaze down to Nico’s arm, avoiding eye contact at all cost as he said, much softer now, “You’re getting all this attention from all these people - you’ve basically got your own fanclub of girls waiting for you outside - so why don’t you do something about it?”

Nico opened and closed his mouth a few times, seeming unsure of what to say. “I don’t...like girls,” he said quietly, and when Will looked up at him, he saw that Nico was avoiding eye contact with him as well. “So. All that that you just said. That means that you see it to. You, um, you think I’m cute-- Or, not cute--”

“Yeah, I do,” Will cut in. “I thought you were cute a year ago too, if that makes this seem any more genuine. I wanted to ask you on a date before you left, but I didn’t know if you liked boys, and I was afraid of being rejected, so I never did. And then you kind of disappeared.”

“I liked you, too,” Nico told him, finally meeting his eyes again. “Last year. And I would’ve said yes. Well. I would’ve wanted to, but I might not have. I had a lot going on in my own head, and I think it was probably for the best that I left - I should’ve said goodbye, I realize that now - but I needed that time to figure out what was good for me and what wasn’t. I had to try to fix myself before I jumped into something that I didn’t know how to deal with - and by that, I mostly mean just being at camp in general, but I also mean. Uh. Relationships, I guess. And not just romantic ones, but even how to be friends with people that weren’t dead or afraid of me, and while I was away, I realized that, well. You’re what’s good for me. As a friend or otherwise. And that’s why I finally came back. _You’re_ why.”

“Oh,” Will whispered. He wasn’t sure what else to say, so for a few moments they just stared at each other until Nico huffed and looked away.

“If you’re just gonna stare at me then stare at my arm while you’re stitching it up,” Nico told him. “Otherwise--”

“Do you wanna come with me to the campfire tonight?” Will blurted out.

Nico hesitated. “You really want to?”

“If my confession wasn’t clear enough, I can try again,” Will offered.

“No, it was clear,” Nico said, shifting until he was sitting up and he and Will were on the same level. He darted forward and pressed his lips to Will’s, just for a second, before pulling himself back. “Sorry.”

Will smiled. “Don’t be sorry. Is that a yes? You’ll go with me?”

“Yeah, I will,” Nico told him, and smiled back. “That was my first kiss.”

“You’re a natural.” Will kissed him, just another quick peck, before returning focus to Nico’s arm. “Now, lay back down so I can stitch this up.”

 

When they left the infirmary, the girls from the arena were still waiting outside on the grass. They all perked up when the door opened and they saw Nico step out, but deflated when they glimpsed his hand entwined with Will’s. Luckily for Nico, they didn’t bother showing up for his next class.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!!  
> if anybody's interested i got a few pairs of socks and hidden underneath all those socks were tickets to see Paramore in july and i cried when i saw the tickets also


End file.
